CRESSON, Pa. -- The Mount Aloysius men's tennis team were defeated this Thursday, Oct. 3, in a rescheduled bout against the Geneva Golden Tornadoes. 

The Mounties largely kept pace with the visitors in the early stages of doubles, staying on serve on courts two and three despite struggles against the pace production of Geneva's top flight. Although the hosts' three doubles would falter in execution down the stretch to give up the doubles point, two doubles stayed even until 5-all, when struggles with service return caught up to the Mounties to give the Golden Tornadoes the full doubles sweep. 

Singles saw a variety of stylistic match ups throughout the lineup. While Geneva's pace at one singles proved too much for the Mountie freshmen Stefano Gasasira (Silver Spring, Md., John F. Kennedy) to defend against, two singles saw freshman Tristen Ruffley (Bedford, Pa., Bedford) pushed back by heavy spin production from his opponent's forehand. Although Ruffley found success in extended points, Geneva's serving proved too effective, with the Mountie losing in straights by a break a set. Four singles would see senior Matthew Franz (Johnstown, Ohio, Bishop Hartley) crash the net every point, forcing his opponent to come up sharp passing shots against the non-stop aggression. Faltering on first volleys as the match went on, Franz would face the wrong end of several crucial deuce points, dropping the match 4-6 2-6. Senior Hunter Reed (Shamokin, PA, Our Lady of Lourdes) and junior Trent Strous (New Columbia, Pa., Milton) would drop their matches to the visitors at five and six respectively, with the former faltering on execution despite extended points, and the latter struggling with serve consistency. 

The Mounties picked up their sole win of the day at three singles, where senior Matt Jacobs (Somerset, PA, Somerset) put together a masterclass in groundstroke aggression across the first set. Continually finding deep returns against strong first serves from his opponent, Jacobs would take the first 6-1 with powerful shots off both wings, redirecting any pace his opponent gave him. The visitor would adjust his strategy in the second set, taking away pace to turn the match into a battle of attrition. Despite some late-set falters in response strategy, Jacobs would find immense success with the tried and true drop shot-lob combination, grinding out a 7-3 tiebreak win in the second. 

The Mounties spend this weekend in Maryland, taking on McDaniel College on Oct 5 and Hood College on Oct 6. McDaniel enters the contest 0-4 on the year, coming off a 1-6 loss to Saint Vincent. Hood comes into the match 0-1 on the season, having lost 0-7 to Randolph-Macon College.